Winterbottom, Whincup's closest championship rival, was in danger of missing out on the shootout but pulled out a last-gasp 2:07.9231 to secure his top 10 berth.

''The approach wasn't to leave it until right at the end but it ended up working out that way,'' he said. ''Happy with the race car but the one-lap flier just isn't really there at the moment.''

Coulthard, who famously crashed out at high speed in the opening lap of the 2010 race, was just relieved to have made a positive start to his weekend.

''This joint hasn't been that kind to me in the past but you've got to put that in the back of your mind and focus on the job at hand ... a thousand k's, it's a long way to go,'' the Lockwood Racing driver said.

Winterbottom's Ford teammate Will Davison qualified fourth fastest while race favourite Craig Lowndes will also feature in the shootout after posting the fifth-quickest time.

Defending champion Garth Tander managed to secure a shootout berth despite crashing his Commodore into a tyre bundle early in the session.

The Holden Racing Team pilot managed to return to the track and did enough to qualify eighth-fastest.

''To actually end up eighth and not too far off the leading time, I was pleasantly surprised to be honest,'' a relieved Tander said.

''We've obviously got a bit of work to do tonight to fix her up but we'll do some tuning in the practice tomorrow and see what happens in the shootout.''

The Bathurst 1000 continues on Saturday with a final practice session in the morning before the top 10 shootout for pole position begins at 4.30pm with a thunderstorm forecast in the afternoon.